2 years Before D-Day

I could never forget my parents' wedding anniversary...it was June 6 1942. Here it is 2010, sixty eight year since they were married. However, their marriage only lasted 31 years because my father died in 1973.


The wedding was simple because my mother's family had very little money. Her father was a cola miner and has been sick for serveral years. No pension, no disability and no Social Security. My father's family was a bit better off but tight with money. They hadn't even been willing to pay for the photo of my father for his Senior yearbook.

Back in those days, my parents were considered to have had almost a 'mixed marriage.' My father's family went to the Irish Catholic church and my mother's family went to the Lithuanian Catholic church. The mixing of the two ethnic groups was frowned upon and my father's family were not overjoyed with the woman their son was marrying. I recall the veiled animosity between the two families, and I don't think there was a holiday where they were all together.

But two years later, my father and two of his brothers were in the Army and my mother's brother was in the Army Air Corps. My uncle Tommy, who was best man at the wedding, took part in the D-Day invasion. Of these 4 uncles, only my Uncle Joe, a navigator, was killed when his plane crashed into a mountain in India, shortly after V-J day. It took 4 years for the remains to come back to the United States for burial.

One thing I do know, is that my parents were very much in love when they married. Many many family members have told me that because, sadly, the love didn't last. But on June 6, 1942, love was in the air and they were happy newleyweds.

I really want this!

I know it's summer, I know it's hot, and I know I certainly don't need a sugar filled bread. But I want this! Mostly, I want to do it. Once dh and I started watching our weight and sugar intake more, I cut back on making bread. Once he was willing to eat whole grain breads, it was easier to just get a couple of loaves at the store and keep the sliced bread in the freezer. It's the cutting of bread that is a pita and leaves us with crumbs everywhere. Let me refine that. One of us is a serious crumb maker and one of us is a serious crumb cleaner-upper, even though we have a bread board with a crumb grid. 'Nuff said.



But back to this bread. As soon as I saw the blog post Noon Rogani , I was sure it was a Middle Eastern bread of some sort, having eaten my share of naan over the years from Tehran, to Bahrain, to Langley Park MD. This bread is Azerbaijani though and even when I was living in Iran, the local people said Azerbaijanis were excellent cooks. For a Persian to say that is something.

Unless I can find people to eat this ...with me ...for me... I hesitate to make it, but doesn't it look like fun? Check the King Arthur link for a recipe that just makes me want to get the flour and yeast out! Let me know if you make it and how it worked out. Right now, I just plan to look at the pictures and dream.

Flashback Friday

Here is another one from my dh's past. This is a family shot taken...?....in the early 70s I'd guess. No one looks too happy except for my husband's father in the background and his son Rich in the foreground. I do believe that the woman holding Rich is my dh's Aunt Catherine who started the animal shelter in Leesburg VA and is still with us, STILL working for animals.

(No, I'm not in this one...I was then married to MY first spouse.)